>> and i'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point" with soledad o'brien start now. good morning, welcome, everybody. the starting point, the president's pick to run the cia. john brennan, top adviser on counterterrorism. is he ready for the job? and prepare for a fight on the president's pick for defense secretary. some will fight the choice of the former republican senator chuck hagel for the job. and the car of the future just might be here already. details about the new self-driving car. >> is it fighting irish or roll tide? college football champ will be crowned. what about the pros? major second guessing after a football star goes down. >> and the lineup this morning, newark mayor cory booker will join us, chris murphy, connie mack and mary bono mack and mike

and mike in the morning are our guests. and "starting point" begins right now. welcome, everybody. this just in to cnn. the white house naming long-time cia official and top counterterrorism adviser john brennan as high-profile conservatives are declaring war so to speak for the president's pick for defense secretary. chuck hagel for nebraska. let's get to jill daugherty. let's start with brennan. first, give us information on brennan. how do you expect his nomination process to go? >> you know, he's a heavy hitter in this for a lock time. john brennan, of course, the adviser to the president for the past four years, counterterrorism, and homeland security. he really knows what he's talking about. he was with the cia for 25

years. and an expert in the middle east. an expert in terrorism, and at the president's side for the past pour years. he is not a flashy person. is he a person who has been deeply in the trenches on both issues and soledad, you have to say a number of people would support him. he's quite qualified. >> let's turn to chuck hagel. maybe you will see the opposite for -- in terms of a lot of people supporting him. getting so much opposition from both sides on this. why is that? >> he is. and i think you would have to get into some of the issues, which we can in a minute. but he is a republican technically speaking. however, republicans basically do not consider him one of them. and when it gets into the positions, let's just listen to lindsay graham and this read-flag statement that he made about chuck hagel. >> this is an in-your-face nomination by the president to all of us who are supportive of

israel. i don't know what his management experience is regarding the pentagon. little, if any. so i think it's an incredibly controversial choice and it looks like the second term of barack obama will be an in-your-face term. >> so what are some of the issues? start with israel. as you heard, a number of his opponents, especially on the republican or conservative side think chuck hagel is not a friend of israel and point to his position on iran sanctions. they say because of his position that iran sanctions essentially aren't effective, that that is another point against him. also, from the liberal side, comments about a dozen, maybe 14 years ago, that chuck hagel made about a candidate for an ambassadorial position, where he called him openly and aggressively gay. now, chuck hagel has since apologized for that, but that also raises some haggles among

some people on the more liberal side. not going to be a friendly reception up in the senate, however, the white house obviously thinks they can pull it off. >> an interesting confirmation hearing, that's for sure. >> let's talk about secretary of state hillary clinton, whose illness people were mocking honestly. not sure i can use a different word for the concussion and it turned out to be quite serious. is she fully recovered? >> you would say she is. she probably has to continue on blood thinners no, question. in terms of anything else, they say she is raring to go. get back to work. she has a full schedule beginning at 9:15 this morning. >> wow. we'll watch her health as well. jill dougherty, appreciate it. john berman with other stories making news.

>> overseas, a deadly rape case has stirred worldwide outrage. five men accused of assaulting and raping a 25-year-old man and her companion on the bus. a sixth suspect is 17. the woman reportedly raped and beat nguyen a metal bar. we are following developments from new delhi. what's the latest this morning? >> reporter: from the proceedings for the day are now over. it was an in-camera proceeding, which means it was offlimits to the media and public. and even if the media were to get information from elsewhere, they would not be allowed to report on those proceedings. the reason for that? there was a bit of a ruckus right before the suspects were due to arrive in the courtroom. a lot of defense lawyers -- sorry, lawyers shouting at defense lawyers saying you will not defend the barbarians.

the magistrate requested everyone to leave, no one did, and so she did. she came back in and she said it will now be in camera and nobody would be able to be there for there now on. >> such a horrible case. thank you very much. a pretrial hearing in a few hours in colorado. colorado prosecutors will lay out their case against james holmes. accused of killing 12 people and wounding dozens of others in aurora, colorado, last july. a judge will decide if the case should go to trial. we'll talk to lisa wayne. a criminal defense attorney and former public defender who helped train the two lawyers defending james holmes. that should be interesting. president obama has signed a $9.7 billion superstorm sandy aid package. most will be used to pay flood insurance claims. a second bill will be voted on on january 15th. house speaker john boehner

received harsh criticism from chris christie and peter king, both republicans, when he refused to bring the bill up for house vote. hockey fans may have something to cheer about. the league and players association came to a tentative agreement yesterday on a ten-year deal that would end the lockout. >> for the ten fans remaining. >> for all ten of you fans left, there could be hockey soon. it could be approved by team players and owners. and you ten fans could watch hockey as early as next week. football. mike shanahan might have explaining to do after star quarterback robert griffin iii appeared to badly reinjure his knee. it happened in the fourth quarter as rg3 tried to recover a fumbled snap. it hurt to just watch it. wasn't even touched. check this out right now. he wasn't even touched. he couldn't move to pick up the fumble.

he had hobbled throughout the game. started limping in the first quarter. the redskins blew a 14-point lead, losing 24-14 in the wild card loss and adding insult to injury, trent williams, smacking seattles richard sherman in the face. sure emotions were really high. >> people are really debating this. i don't watch a ton of football. i had two torn acls, anything with knees -- oh! >> he had been limping since the first quarter. field conditions were terrible are people say this is the sport this is the game at the end day of the, is he supposed to play. >> they won't say that nine months when he is still not back on the field potentially. he's get an mri today. still ahead, relief on the way finally at long last for some of the victims of superstorm sandy. but is it enough money for those hardest hit areas?

we'll crunch those numbers straight ahead. up next, newark mayor cory booker, and we'll chat about his upcoming run for the u.s. senate. and we'll preview the bcs championship game tonight. will it be the fighting irish or the crimson tide. >> christine has business news for you. >> future is here. top car companies getting ready to reveal self-driving cars. how close are you to owning one? you're watching "starting point." mine was earned in djibouti, africa, 2004.

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welcome back, everybody. the game everyone is talking about. second ranked crimson tide takes on alabama. the tide, ten-point favorite. i have hope. only two times these teams have met in bowl games, irish have been on top. carlos diaz in miami, the sight of the game tonight. let's talk about some of the players in this game. what you expect will happen? walk me through it. >> thank you so much. you know, agent mckaren, the quarterback for alabama. one of the most amazing stories you will ever hear. at the age of 5, on august 4,

1996, he was involved in a horrific wave runner accident, so bad, in fact, his mom was preparing for what he would wear in his casket. doctors said he would not live through that accident. she was going to bury him in the little league outfit. then doctors said he would be mentally handicapped, he would be blind. he's fought through all of that, and now he's the quarterback of alabama. >> it's all pretty crazy. i'm a big believer that the man above, god has a plan, everybody happens for a reason. i feel like it's my second chance at life. me and my mom promised each other since i got that second chance, i would take full advantage of it and try to make every -- all my dreams come true that are possible. so it's kind of just wake up every day and think about that, you know, let the day play out.

>> a.j.'s younger brother, cory, the next person up on the wave runner that fateful morning on august 4, 1996. cory said he never saw a.j. come back from the wave runner. the next time he saw him was in the hospital. now, cory is transferring to alabama himself and a.j. and cory both say every time a.j.'s mom sees them here this weekend, she just starts crying. an amazing story of an amazing quarterback here in miami. big game tonight. big game. >> so many great stories out of these two teams meeting up. and mayor cory booker, not for long mayor cory booker. >> the older i get, the better i was, i'm the only person that beat notre dame when they were number one in 1990. five catches, now it's more like 25 because every year i add.

>> glory days. >> south bend, indiana and took down notre dame. >> join us in our conversation with carlos. what do you think will happen? >> i'm pulling for the irish, i can't believe they are ten points down. i think they will be extraordinary tonight. >> carlos, thank you for joining us. we'll check in later. >> no problem. >> he has the good job today. hanging out. >> i thought you were going to jump in, contradict me. >> alabama's defense is so good, and i think nick saban is a great coach. not the type of coach to let his team fall asleep against an underdog. >> we have never agreed on sports. i can't wait until baseball season. >> let's talk politics. i knew last time you were on you were going to run. i didn't know if you were going to run from the governor's spot. why not? >> the most important thing i have going on is being mayor of city of newark. >> come on, man! i knew you were going to say

that. >> chris christie, are you worried that he would beat you? >> no. we have with a billion dollars worth of new development in newark. for the first time in 10 or 15 years, we will stabilize our budget. be able to hire more police. these are things that will get done if i left the helm now, it would come to a screeching halt. i talked to a developer yesterday who couldn't believe the number of new buildings being built downtown. and the number of housing in our neighborhoods. i swore an oath to do my job. i would hate to leave early to do another job. >> you are going to the senate. have you had a conversation with lautenberg? >> i want to give him the space to make his own decision. i announced my intention to run. the reality is, we have a good senator, been loyal, been there a long time. he has a decision to make.

focusing on my job for now. we've reached out a number of times. i had a plane trip going to meet with him. and with a lot of challenges in washington, he to cancel the meeting. >> would you primary him? run against him in a primary? >> it's too early to talk about those kinds of hypothetical. he has not made his decision yet. >> let's dive into the hypothetical. i love hypotheticals. it's my middle name. if he decides to run, would you go against lautenberg? >> we have a full year until the hypothetical becomes real one way or another. we need a senator in d.c. and we should be fighting lautenberg in tough fights ahead and we need a mayor in newark that gets the job done. >> you are trying to unseat him. >> this is not an election year for the senate this is an election year for governor. >> people who love him and

support him should stop loving and support you when you run for his seat. >> i have a deep respect and love for him. he has given a long degree of service. we should all respect that, and, look this is a loyon of our senate and i'll give him that space. this isn't an election year. fiscal cliff, the sandy aid, debt ceiling, a lot of issues we need him in the saddle, focused in the job, not focused as mayor of the city of newark. >> you always get these blowing, rave, wonderful articles. "the new york times," not nice at all, they say are you a better marketer than mayor. is it hurtful? >> probably one of the more frustrating articles of my career. they glossed over what we have done, since instituting court reform, prisoner entry reform, doubled the amount of affordable housing to dealing with veterans issues. a frustrating article.

but as you said, sometimes you won't get flowing press. the press sometimes likes to build you up and take you down. >> what? what? >> my mom says i hope this is a lesson you should not read all of the good things about yourself. >> your mother would love my mother. chuck hagel? >> i think he has to focus, the president, on defending the nation. give him a lot of latitude. >> do you worry about the jewish lobby. he didn't say the israel lobby. the jewish lobby. talking about a diplomat being aggressively gay, iran and sanctions. >> i consider myself a strong advocate for equality issues and something that hurts me deeply that i still live in a nation that has a second class citizenship for people based on who they love. does it concern me, yes? focusing on israel is focusing on the security of the united

states of america. yeah, these are things that concern me. i know the president, known him since before he was president and made extraordinary decisions when it comes to foreign policy. i watched a campaign where he didn't get enough credit for keeping america safe. for building america's military capacity, and dealing with issues ranging from terrorism from cyber terrorism to the kind of terrorist attacks we've seen on our homeland. so the president of the united states, we should give him a lot of deference for decision making, and the good news is, these issues have been highlighted and he tried to address them, and i think in the coming days, he will even more so. >> it will be interesting to watch his confirmation hearing. >> should rg3 have been in the game? >> you know what? i've played the game and very difficult to take a guy out. >> who is limping with a brace on his leg. come on. >> i have seen the same thing in

stamford, a friend of mine with a brace on his leg play injured. but you i have played injured. >> it would have taken a crowbar to take me out of the game. >> or a coach. >> this was a player that was not going tow about taken out. so easy to second guess the decision. in the heat of battle, you have to give deference to player and coach in making the decision. sometimes the call may be wrong. >> christine and i, you know that we think you're wrong. >> great to be here. >> love at the table. >> exactly. exactly. still ahead on "starting point. a top women's track coach resigns after revealing an affair with a student. is it the right call? or is she the victim a double standard? our "starting point" team is walking in to discuss that and

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the stock trader's almanac finds how stocks perform in the first five days predicts the market with 87% accuracy. 4.6 up for the s & p. carmakers are moeing closer to driverless cars. toyota put up a preview video. a five-second clip. and audi will showcase a self-parking feature this week. google has a timeline of five years or less for driverless cars to hit california roads and some experts predict by 2040, 75% of cars will be driving themselves. >> it's not true. by 2040, 70% of the cars will not be driving themselves are a. >> in sensor technology, it works best when it's

representative. a train of cars, like a commute. >> like a train. >> buy like five cars? >> and you your friends. >> how does this work? >> and we have an op-ed columnist from "the new york times." also connie mack, from the state of florida and mckay copkins from buzzby.com. >> we just got a new car. >> driverless? >> close. it parallel parks itself. and it's freaky. you let go of the wheel. >> it really does? >> what kind of car? >> a land rover. >> we heard from your wife in the green room that are you actually worse than parallel parking than the car itself, right? still ahead, we'll be talking about the evidence that we'll hear against the suspect in the aurora movie theater massacre. for the first time today at a

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today. accused of killing 12 people in a midnight massacre at an aurora movie theater last july. he will be in court for a pretrial hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to put him on trial. casey wian is in centennial, colorado, with more. good morning, casey. >> reporter: good morning, soledad. we're expecting about 70 witnesses in the preliminary hearing. it's expected to go on perhaps the entire week. we also are expecting that some of the family members of those killed and some of the people who were injured to be in court. and they've been told by the prosecution to expect very graphic and very disturbing testimony, including video from the scene, 911 calls, even autopsy photos. because of that, some of the family members have elected to view the proceedings from an overflow room and saying they don't want to be in the same courtroom as james holmes.you m

first time the public has heard much of the information against holmes. there has been a sweeping order in this case, covering the prosecution, defense, even the university of colorado where he was a graduate student for a period of time. the confidence will mount some sort of diminished mental capacity defense. that is by court filings that have been made public. no plea yet. that would come at an arraignment at a later date if the judge determines that there is enough evidence against james holmes to make him stand trial and no one expected that the prosecution is going to have any difficulty showing that evidence. soledad. >> casey wian, thank you. a few minutes, we'll talk with defense attorney elise wayne about the case. first, a look at other stories making news today. no end in sight to the civil war in syria. president bashar al-assad making his first public speech in six

months this-week, dismissing any chance of peace talks. he called the rebels murderous criminals and demanded the west stop funding them. and shell has refloated an oil rig that grounded off the coast of alaska. weather has hampered recovery efforts. no evidence of a fuel leak. the rig being towed back home to seattle when it ran aground in the severe storm one week ago. stanley mckristol breaking his silence. former general of the afghan war has written "my share of the task" 2 1/2 years after his interview was cut short by an interview in "rolling stone" magazine. in his new book, the former general is careful not to criticize the book and focuses efforts finding and capturing key al qaeda operatives. bill richardson and google

chair are arriving in north korea. this is a private, humanitarian mission. they will take up the case of a u.s. citizen jailed in that country. the state department is not happy about the timing of the visit, just weeks after the controversial north korean rocket launch. right back to lisa wayne, a former public defender. today, here to talk about the preliminary hearing that casey wian was filling us in on in aurora, colorado to determine if the shooting suspect in the movie theater killing should stand trial at all. have you trained two of the lawyer who will be defending him. thank you. nice to have you with us. >> thank you. >> walk us through what a preliminary hearing is all about? >> the preliminary hearing is the government or prosecutor's's opportunity to give us a preview

of what the case is about. the strengths of the case, weaknesses of the case, finally we'll get to see what the actual evidence is in this case. >> 70 witnesses. isn't that unusual? >> nothing usual about this case. when i hear 70 witnesses, i expect we'll see a lot of law enforcement people and probably see people who are were eyewitnesss, people in the theater. this is their opportunity to tell someone finally what happened in that theater. >> sounds like it will be very gory and graphic. the first time we're really getting perspective of what happened. >> absolutely. emotions will run high in this. it will be horrific. a lot of emotion and crying. time for the case to be heard in a public venue. >> do you think he's mentally able to stand trial? this is at the end of the day what this is about. >> i'm like everybody else. i don't have an inside scoop on

this. if you look at the presentation of him in the courtroom which will be consistent throughout this week, look at the evidence of the case, here is a guy who didn't have any motive to go inside a theater and to shoot people, and so i think that you will finally see the defense scrutinizing the evidence in this case and showing another side of people who will support that he was deranged and out of his mind when this happened. >> what can they do this week to push the idea of insanity defense. >> you have really good lawyers, and they will distinguish with each witness being able to show what he was doing before, what he was doing inside the theater and things he may have been doing after. >> like what? >> to show that he was in -- there was a witness that i heard on cnn talking about when he went in and saw this guy, he was just looking blank, he was spraying the gun everywhere, and he didn't appear to actually be aiming at anybody. and he seem like he was out of his mind in a state of not

really knowing what he was doing. that's the kind of thing the defense wants to cement now, early on. so the defense can see this is not made up this is really a guy who is out of it. >> what role does him seeking psychiatric help prior to -- actually while he was building his arsenal. there is a report that he threatened the life of his therapist. >> right. right. >> does that play a role in whether or not he is able to claim some sort of mental defense? >> it makes it more credible. always difficult for the defense to assert an insanity defense when you don't have someone who has a longstanding mental health history. it appears here -- this isn't what we made up this was a guy who was sick before it happened. makes it more credible. >> insanity is defined as the applicable test shall be a person on so diseased or infected of the mind as to be

capable of distinguishing right from wrong with respect to the act is not accountable. but you are care should be taken to not confuse mental disease or defect from passion growing out of anger, hatred, revenge, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. the fact that there was so much planning and he was seeing a psychiatrist, all of those things make it seem there was a motive for something. it wasn't a -- he snapped, there was so kind of plan. all done in secrecy. he wasn't telling people. >> what we don't know in the public arena, someone who is mentally ill at this degree can be in a psychotic state for months. i have represented clients who are in a psychotic state. appear to be very methodical. planning things, but not in their right state and that's the test. so it's an extreme mental illness that means you cannot distinguish between right and

wrong. every mentally ill person cannot mount a defense of insanity. we're talking about someone with extreme mental illness. you can be in a psychotic state for months, not just at the moment of the time. >> don't the people of america and in colorado, don't they deserve to have a trial? doesn't he still need to stand trial and account for his actions? >> well, you know, the beauty of the american system is that we distinguish between people have intent and people who are mentally ill, so when you talk about don't they deserve to have a trial, what we deserve to know is the truth truth of the case. and the beauty of the system, we don't punish people in the same way. the american people knows if you are found not guilty by reason of insanity, it doesn't mean i don't take responsibility. it means i can't take responsibility and they are going to throw away the key and lock him up either way. either in a mental institute or a prison.

that's what the american public deserves to know, what really happens in these cases. not guilty by reason of insanity cases by the defense is an uphill battle. >> this might be the only trial that people get to see all the evidence. >> that's right. >> if it turns out he can't stand trial. lisa wayne, nice to have you. thank you very much. still ahead, a top college track coach has resigned after revealing an affair way student. and alabama and notre dame in the bcs championship. mike and mike will give us their picks. we know where mike golic is going. mike greenberg, that's ahead.

welcome back to "starting point," everybody. some of the top stories. fears mount that victoro missoni is dead. the 58-year-old was traveling to caracas with his wife, two friends and two pilots with his twin engine plane disappeared. 94-year-old nelson mandela

is starting to get back to his normal routine as he recovers from gal stone surgery and lung infecti infection. he spent two weeks in the hospital in early december. joe biden, reality tv star? sounds too good to be true, but it's not. a fan of the vice president created a petition on the white house website for c-span to create a show that follows him around. it would "show the light hearted side of politics." bide know n-- bedden showed off his comedy chops on nbc's "parks and recollect reaction." this cat spotted after it was trying to enter the prison on new year's eve. an amazing con to band taped to it a headset, memory card, cell

phone batteries and a saw. a prison spokeperson told a spokes pan it's hard to know who is responsible. all 250 inmates are considered suspects. >> anybody would want all that. i don't believe the cat is in any kind of legal jeopardy. >> that's everything. >> by reason of insanity. >> everybody would want that. cell phone charger, drills. every single person in that prison wants that cat. come here, kitty, kitty, kitty. >> that story, tailor made. we'll get that online. >> so much in trouble for not breaking that. >> i know. why did we not break that story? >> can you imagine the person taping that to the cat. >> maybe the cat was really into it, show. going along with it. >> devious cat. >> i also like the purr. good job. >> i want to raise this issue about this whole famed track

coach. her name bev kearney, resigned from the university of texas. admitted to an affair with a student athlete in 2002, ended roughly in 2004. she was allowed two options, step down or get fired. she has won six national championships in the university of texas. her lawyer says she's the victim of a double standard and the punishment has been far harsher for her than mail counterparts who have "engaged in similar conduct." what do you think? we'll talk to her tomorrow. i'm curious to know ahead of time. >> i want to know the broad history of men doing the same and what their punishments were. i do think the faculty/student thing is over a line and each institution should be able to say what they feel like their policies are on that, and if they feel like that's so far over the line, then they should be able to make that call.

they made that clear ahead of time, that's okay. if, at the same school, men have done similar things with people in their charge and not off with the same kind of heavy penalty, there that a problem. i don't known that's the case. >> is that a problem that she too should keep her job or they should be let go? >> the standard should be the standard. whether it's men or women, they need to follow the same standard. i don't think one gender should have an advantage, if could you say it that way. this is a horrible thing. these are kids in school. and they should -- they should be going to an environment that will give them the best opportunity to learn and not to be engaged in this kind of activity with their teachers. >> the question in cases like this. to what extent the faculty

member exerted power over the student. did the student feel pressured into it? regardless of gender, it's something you have to look at in cases like this. especially at the college level. definitely when they are younger than 18, there is no question. are are what is the difference between coach to athlete and boss to employee? isn't it the same thing? you always have the influence. you are, in fact, that person's coach and whether or not they like you or not, can they afford to not like you if you are coming onto them and they are the coach. maybe are you on scholarship and how you're in school. >> that's the side i would air on. i think you're right. >> at the end of the day what are the rules? apply them equally. it will be interesting to talk to her. she is a hall of famer, and she was injured very bad until an accident, and they thought she would never walk again. she will be our guest, tomorrow. bev kearney. up next on "starting point,"

the fighting irish take on the crimson tide. we have make aike and mike in t morning. mike golic played for notre d e dame, so you imagine what side he's in.

tonight is the night the fighting irish take on the alabama crimson tide, a battle of number one and number two. sports analysts mike golic and mike join us. they host on espn radio. thanks for being with us. mike golic, you have a dog in the fight. the golic family tree is an interesting tree. you, of course, played in 1985, and then your brother bob was a nose tackle, and your brother greg offensive lineman. and you have kids as well. that's quite a family tree there. i'm not going to throw the first question to you, sir. i'm talking about notre dame to you. mike greenberg, let's start with you. i don't think he cannot be biased in this. mike greenberg, walk me through the pros and cons of tonight's game and enultimately who you think are going to win. >> we will save the mayor of notre dame for a little bit

later on his opinion. to me, having -- i think the key is here, i think all things considered, alabama gets a slight edge. i think they're a slightly better team. but i've seen notre dame go up and do a lot of things this year i didn't expect because they're great defensively and they don't make mistakes. to me, their key is their young quarterback everett gholson cannot make mistakes. they have a very big chance to win this game. they are a sizable underdog. if he does not play well, if he makes some mistakes, if they fall behind and he's forced to throw the football, that's where the irish should get in serious trouble. the key is for that offensive line for notre dame, which is led in part by mike's son, mike jr., to open up holes, to run that ball effectively, and keep the game a low scoring game. while i know that generally is alabama's strength, it is even more to the point notre dame's strength. >> you started by saying alabama has the edge. mike golic, that has to hurt a little bit. they have great personal stories on the notre dame side.

walk me through a couple of those. >> well, as you mentioned, our family tree, my brother bob winning the national championship in 1977. my years didn't go so well there. now i have two sons playing on the team, it's incredible, as a father, watching their kids and the way they can end their career with a national championship. it's just been a story this year for notre dame, where this wasn't expected. nobody saw undefeated coming. but as they played, and as greeny mentioned, the defense playing so well, and everett gholson, the young quarterback coming along the way he did. we just got win after win and kept getting doubted more and more. we'd beat a good team, and they'd say that team wasn't good anyway, and notre dame is not that good. here they are at 12-0 facing a fantastic alabama team. take nothing away from alabama. they're favored. they should be favored, but i think i know where my heart is leaning. >> i knew there was a but in there somewhere, mr. mayor. i want to ask you a question about a game that was really hard to watch, the redskins and seahawks.

rg3, i don't watch a lot of football, as you guys know, but i like him personally. it was brutal to watch him limping through the game. it was terrible. many people mad at the coach for having him in at all. what do you think? >> there's a lot of difference of opinion on that. both mike and i think the right thing was done there. rg3 is a football player. what he did is he went out and played football. that's what happens. it's a brutal at times and violent, difficult to watch game. >> he's a rookie. he's young. he could have ruined -- and i'm not exaggerating. i followed a lot of people who are tweeting this. could have ruined his career in that game by being too aggressive, and it's his first year. >> you play ball. you know what, you're a ballplayer, you play ball. if you're in the league, it doesn't matter if you're a rookie or a 12-year guy. you're in the sport. you play to win. i think he handled it perfectly. i want to be out there and help the team. it's not on the player. it's got to go on the coach or medical staff to say, hey, we appreciate you wanting to be out

there. we're not going to have you out there. i thought they did the right thing. he couldn't run the way he wanted to, but he could still be effective. we need to give seattle's defense props because they're an effective defense. >> and what you're saying is certainly an opinion a lot of people hold. mike and i, our perspective is we think it was handled, all things considered, the right way. >> i hear you. it was hard to watch, though. mike and mike, nice to have you with us this morning. >> you don't sound convinced. >> i'm not convinced. it's really nice to talk to you anyway, even if we disagree. i love talking to you guys because, as you know, i don't watch a ton of football. they always make me feel i'm very much in the conversation. rather than others are, you're completely wrong, soledad. you're welcome to your opinion because this is america. i thought the coach was wrong. i thought it was painful to watch him limp. >> the question is was he effective at the quarterback position after the first quarter? i think that's the mistake. he wasn't playing well enough to merit risking the future of his career.

>> but look at kerry strug, olympics. >> risking his career is one thing. this is a sport that trains kids from the time they're basically able to walk. what signal does it send to a young person, when we're as parents, i've had two football player kids, both of them broke bones, when you know that you're hurt and both you and -- >> kerry strug in the olympics did her vault with a broken ankle or a broken foot. kerry strug is now with us, and we cheered her for winning for usa. >> when you're an athlete, you want to play. you want to be on that field. you wan't to compete. >> so your coach should say -- >> and it's competition because you know, if you come out, someone else is coming in. i'm agreeing that the coach -- >> you're agreeing? okay. >> that the coach has a responsibility here, but, look, this was a decision between the coach and the player on the field. it's really hard for us to second guess those decisions. >> i don't think you can count

on the athlete to be the one to say, i can't play anymore. >> i agree. still ahead on "starting point," we learned the president's choice for cia director this morning. we'll talk about the road ahead for john brennan, who's going to be the nominee. and president's pick to be the next defense secretary, some conservatives are very mad even though chuck hagel is a republican. we'll talk about that with freshman senator chris murphy of connecticut. oscar season, but chain saws trump the hobbit at the box office. how did a movie that had 21% of good reviews, as you look at rotten tomato, how did it win this weekend? is that's ahead. i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters... my individual health profile. not random statistics. they even reward me for addressing my health risks. so i'm doing fine... but she's still going to give me a heart attack. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

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welcome back, everybody. our starting point, new faces in the cabinet. the president names the top terrorism cabinet adviser john brennan for cia. is you up for the job? and former nebraska senator chuck hagel for secretary of defense. we'll tell you why some republicans are upset about this. plus notre dame versus alabama. who's going to take home the trophy glory in the bcs game? we'll have more on that. plus what are going to be the bright spots and weak points in our economy this year? i've got the forecast for you just ahead. the public will get its first look at the evidence against the accused shooter in the aurora movie theater massacre. straight ahead. it is monday, january 7th. "starting point" begins right now.

welcome back, everybody. our team this morning, mary bono mack is a former california congressman joining us. her husband, just a moment ago, was sitting there. he stepped out for a sec. charles is with us. "early start" co-anchor john berman sticks around with us. starting point is nice big showdown. me talking college football. my poor husband is terrified. two of the most celebrated college football programs in the country are on a collision course for the bcs championship. top ranked notre dame, a decided underdog, in spite of being number one, trying to keep its perfect season intact against second ranked alabama. carlos diaz is in miami looking ahead to the clash of these iconic college teams. >> reporter: thanks, soledad. they're talking about this bcs

game being one of the most anticipated in decades. alabama going for its second national championship in a row against notre dame. its third title in four years. notre dame rising from the ashes. they haven't been in this position in 24 years. trying to regain the glory of the past. you have mantei te'o, the leader of notre dame, on the defense, loding his grandmother and his girlfriend to cancer and then fighting back to lead the team, to be a heisman trophy runner-up. that's a great story there. on alabama's side, their qb a.j. mccarron had a near death experience as a child on a waterski, and now he comes back after being on the brink of death as a child to lead alabama to the national championship game, trying to become only the second quarterback in the last 54 years to lead his team to consecutive national championships. it's a very big game from miami. tickets are going for around $845 for the nose bleed seats way up at the top of the stadium. so it's a situation where you

have two big teams, two storied teams, a big rivalry, a big game here in miami. soledad? >> carlos diaz for us. it's so much fun to go to a big game like that. i'm not a huge football fan, but i love this kind of rivalry when you know the teams and everyone is very excited. people love one side or love the other side. that's going to be an awesome game tonight. pro football now. the afc, the baltimore ravens advance 24-9 win over andrew luck and the indianapolis colts. in the nfc, things quickly go from bad to worse for washington redskins fans. the star quarterback, rg3, reinjured his knee on sunday. you could see it during the game. playoff loss to the seattle seahawks. looked really, really bad. he was hobbled throughout the game. the redskins coach taking some heat for not taking him out. for me included, mr. shanahan. the redskins blew a 14-point lead to the seahawks in a 24-14 loss. redskins trent williams got a little carried away during the post-game handshakes when he smacked seattle's richard sherman in the face.

oops, i was trying to shake your hand. excuse me. i smacked you in the face. it's interesting, and all that -- i just thought, i know mike and mike disagree with me. we were talking earlier from espn. i just think you can't play somebody who's limping on the field. it's awful to watch. like it hurt to watch him. >> i think that the issue here is that athletes are always going to want to play. anyone in the nfl, you ask them do they still want to play, they're not going to say, no, take me out. the coaches, the trainers, no one in this team apparatus really has an incentive to say, we should really watch out for your health. >> or your career. >> that's up to the athlete, and the athlete is going to look like a wimp where he says, actually, take me out now. >> the wimp word is it. that's the social pressure that goes along with most athletics, which is that people feel like it diminishes them as an athlete if they acknowledge that they are injured in any way. in this case, at least it's a

leg. there are a lot of people who play with concussions, things that have long lasting consequences, long after you have finished playing professional sports. now you don't have the brain capacity to live the rest of your life. >> that's why you have the medical team there, right? >> these athletes are treated as disposable people. they end their careers at 30, 35, and they have nothing to do for the rest of their lives. they're dealing with these injuries forever. i think that that's something that -- >> you're mad at coach shanahan too. >> i think the league has to think about this. >> you are leading -- it is all you. >> i'm leading the football revolt. again, my husband is freaking out right now. we've got other stories making news. it's amazing in washington they're talking about a few other things besides the redskins, but not much. they are talking about this, though. counterterrorism adviser john brennan is president obama's pick to become the next director of the cia. the nomination is expected to be announced this afternoon. the 57-year-old brennan spent a quarter century at the cia and was the deputy executive

director under george w. bush. if confirmed, brennan will succeed david petraeus. former republican senator chuck hagel of nebraska is the president's choice to be the next secretary of defense. this pick is angering many leading republicans who question hagel's commitment to israel and is unwillingness to back sanctions against iran. meanwhile, secretary of state hillary clinton heads back to work today. she has a meeting first thing this morning with her staff and will be welcoming afghan president hamid karzai when he arrives in washington on friday. secretary clinton was released from a new york hospital last week after recovering from a blood clot in her head. in colorado, a preliminary hearing this morning in the case of james holmes. he's accused of killing 12 people and wounding dozens more at a midnight massacre at an aurora movie theater back in july. prosecutors will begin to outline their case against holmes, revealing the first public details of this rampage. a judge will decide if there's enough evidence to bring the case to trial. a simply barbaric rape case in india has stirred worldwide

outrage. five men accused of robbing and assaulting a 23-year-old woman and her male companion on a bus. those accused appeared in court today. a juvenile court will narrow down the age of a sixth suspect who claimed to be 17. the companion told a french news agency the woman was raped and beaten with a metal bar. he survived with a broken leg. president obama has signed into law a $9.7 billion superstorm sandy aid package. most of that money will be used to pay flood insurance claims. the house and senate will vote on a second $51 billion package on january 15th. house speaker john boehner received harsh criticism last week when new jersey governor chris christie and new york congressman peter king, both republicans, when he refused to bring a $60 billion sandy bill up for a house vote. >> wow, people are mad about that. i was on va actication. you could see people going crazy on twitter. peter king, when he's mad, watch out. when he's mad. we want to talk more about that with freshman senator chris

murphy, a democrat from connecticut. thank you for joining us in the broupd. let's talk about chuck hagel, fir and foremost. would you support him to be the next secretary of defense. >> the thing i know about chuck hagel tells me he'd be a very strong pick here. he'd be the first vietnam veteran, first enlisted soldier as secretary of defense. he's a guy with really foreign policy chops. and someone, frankly, who hasn't been afraid to depart from his party when he thought they were wrong. obviously, he took a very public stance. against the republican orthodox on the iraq war back when very few republicans were doing it. i've only about had seven days to look at him so far, so i'm going to take my time to research his record and look at his positions and do all the due diligence i need to do. but i like this pick.

i think he's someone the president trusts. i understand some of the concerns that are being raised, but let's be clear, president obama is only picking someone who's going to support his position on israel, which is a strong position in support of that special relationship, and someone who's going to make sure that his secretary of defense implements strongly the nation's policy on gaze in tys in the mi. and i know chuck hagel will do both of those things. >> first, let me play a chunk of what lindsey graham had to say because it was very lindsey graham-esque, if you will. it's an in your face nomination by the president. let's play that. >> this is an in your face nomination by the president to all of us who are supportive of israel. i don't know what his management experience is regarding the pentagon, little, if any. so i think it's an incredibly controversial choice, and it looks like the second term of barack obama is going to be an in your face term. >> senator, i just want to ask

you, a lot of people view this appointment as just needing a political win, especially after the president kind of floated this trial balloon with susan rice and ended up not picking her. do you view this as a political move to try to win a fight with republicans? >> no, absolutely not. this is someone that the president inherently trusts, and this is one of the most important positions in the administration. so the president needs someone that he has faith is going to be able to preside over a transformation of our military, right? this is going to be one of the most important four-year periods of time in our military's history over the past several decades. we're going to be withdrawing from afghanistan. we're going to be figuring out our new footprint in the world, and the president trusts chuck hagel. and to try to make this sound like it's a pick outside of the mainstream is absolutely ridiculous. chuck hagel has been widely regarded as one of the smartest people on defense and national security issues on both sides of the aisle. many of his colleagues, who

right now are contemplating voting against him in the united states senate have wonderful things to say about him. >> forgive me for interrupting you, senator, new senator -- that's kind of how we do it. you'll learn as you keep doing our show over the next few months and years ahead. there are republicans who don't like him and democrats who don't like him. i see it in three areas. there was a comment about a diplomat being aggressively gay. there was this idea that he talked about a jewish lobby instead of the israel lobby and said that they were exerting a lot of pressure on people in elected office. and maybe more importantly than all of that is he doesn't seem to necessarily support what the president believes on sanctions in iran. those seem be to the main three sticking points. are they big enough sticking points for people on both sides of the aisle to derail the whole thing? >> listen, the bottom line is that any secretary of defense, just like any other cabinet post, is going to implement the beliefs and views of the president of the united states. and we've gotten into this world today in which you almost can't pick anybody who has previously

independent views because somehow that will be perceived as being contrary to the views of the president. the fact is we need strong leaders in these positions, and strong leaders come sometimes with positions in the past which might not have always directly aligned with the president's. listen, hillary clinton is a perfect example. she's been a great secretary of state because, in that role, she's implementing the views of the president, just like chuck hagel would, if he's confirmed as secretary of defense. >> hey, senator, this is charles. how much of these do you think -- i think definitely is just caught up in the politics of people opposing the president. i mean, i look at senator mccain, who used to love hagel. in fact, i found a thing in "the new york times" magazine, where he's saying, i would be honored to have chuck in any capacity in his administration, and he'd make a great secretary of state. but now mccain is making

rumblings that he also is against hagel. how much of this is just caught up in kind of the politics of hagel being a pro-obama republican? >> well, i mean, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. hagel hasn't even been officially nominated yet. so we don't yet know exactly what the resistance is going to be to him. mccain is not alone. mitch mcconnell, on hagel's way out the door in the senate, lauded his foreign policy credentials and now is starting to hedge. i think you're right, charles. i think republicans are spoiling for a fight. i think they recognize that this guy's coming into his second term with a head of steam, that he's very well regarded on issues of foreign policy, and republicans are used to holding an advantage on that mantel. they have lost it to an extent. and so they just want to pick a fight. hagel is a mainstream candidate. i'll do my own research on him. but it certainly seems at this

point like it's a little bit more political than it is policy based. >> senator chris murphy is a democrat from the state of connecticut. nice to have you with us, sir. we appreciate it. hopefully many more times since you're now a brand new senator. still ahead on "starting point" this morning, he was there when a gunman opened fire inside a colorado movie theater, survived, but was shot in the neck. next a massacre victim will talk about the suspect's hearing which is happening today. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. with snapshot, i knew what i could save before i switched to progressive. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. you're not filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today.

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in just a few hours, the accused shooter in the aurora theater movie massacre will be in court. a hearing will get under way to hear evidence against james holmes. he's charged with killing 12 people and wounding 58 other people in the theater last july. steve barton was in the theater when holmes opened fire. i should say holmes is alleged to have opened fire. he has not been convicted in the case. steven was able to escape. he was shot. nice to have you back. we talked about the newtown shooting. nice to have you back again. tell me about your injuries in the shooting. >> i was shot in the shotgun basically in the face and upper torso and the neck. i currently still have eight

shotgun pellets still in there. >> so when you hear about this hearing, which could be, if he doesn't stand trial, right, if he's found mentally inexcept, this could be the only opportunity for a lot of evidence in the case to come forward. how do you feel about this? >> i obviously don't want him to walk, but as long as he doesn't see the light of day again, it doesn't really much concern me beyond that. to me, i see the trial as being an opportunity to learn more about what happened that night beyond just my own personal recollection. >> what do you remember? is it like for you specifically, is it a blur, or do you have a sense in your head of how it -- >> no, i remember very vividly. i remember everything tt happened. but, obviously, there's some things that i didn't see because either i was keeping my head down or taking cover, and i'd just be interested to know. >> what do you want to know? >> just more about what happened in the theater. and beyond that, you know, actually more about what led him

to commit this crime. i think this is just another reminder of the terrible cost of basically the failure of our gun policy in this country. i think it just brings it back to the forefront in people's minds. >> or the failure of having good mental health care. >> sure, they go hand in hand, of course. to me, at the end of the day, if you don't have the gun, if you don't have the access to assault rifles, such easy access, then you don't have these horrible mass tragedies that seem to always be occurring. >> do you recall seeing him before he started to shoot? >> no. i just remember seeing the flash of his gun. i'm thinking at first that it was fireworks and then quickly realizing it was much more serious than that. >> president obama and the white house have a lot of issues that they want to address in the second term. how important is it to you that he pursue comprehensive gun control legislation in this coming year? >> extremely important. >> he works with mayors against illegal guns.

>> so are you calling on him to really take some action? >> and we have been since aurora to really take leadership on this issue and since tucson really. it's so many times in the past we've seen kind of a failure of leadership, but this feels different. i mean, the president has verbally committed his administration to working on this issue. i think that's the right thing to do. >> would you want to testify? i mean, they said 70 -- casey wian has been reporting on this for us. he said 70 people will be called to testify in this hearing, which could last a week, which is pretty unusual. would you want to testify? >> frankly, i should think i'm better served working on this issue because, sure, this has happened, but the trial won't change the fact that it happened. it's in the past, as far as i'm concerned now, and the best thing to do is move forward now and ensure that with strong gun laws, with mental health reform, that we don't have these issues continuing in the future. >> your scar is -- >> sorry. i've been a proponent of the

assault weapon ban over my congressional career, but to me you said something very important. this trial we have to get as to an understanding why this is happening. we can't do one without the other. mental health is a huge component here, and it's been largely overlooked. i'm hoping a lot of that does come out in the trial. i don't know that that's going to be the gist of it, but i've never understood the term not guilty by reason of insanity. you're guilty. you did it. maybe your mental health, and as a guest earlier said, you go to a mental health institution rather than to jail. but we have to do them both. >> would it bother you if he's found -- because it is not guilty by a measure of insanity. >> to perpetrate a horrible crime like this, you have to reason there's something wrong. i don't know if that ab solves him of guilt in this situation. i personally don't think he was criminally insane. i don't think he is criminally insane. i don't know really. >> he's a young man, and i have a 24-year-old son.

soledad knows i've been very focused on prescription drug use issues. i think our kids these days have so much thrown at them. i don't know what is happening to them. if we don't look at it in totality, including, yes, what does it mean? in the tucson shooting with gabby giffords, if the shooter did not have -- if there's not one opportunity to subdue him into stopping, the carnage would have been worse. that's one of the reasons i support the ban on the high capacity clips. >> it does make you think. it would be nice if you could figure out on many fronts because it's a multifactorial problem. it's not just fix this one thing. >> we have to be proactive. in the moment the people are tackling the shooter, it's way too late. >> what's happening to our kids that they're turning to these hard-core opiates and so stressed out? in my view, they're flipping the switch at some time and losing their humanity. >>s that the big $64,000 question. stephen is like, i don't know. >> there is problems with drug

abuse and mental health. when it's easier to purchase a gun than it is to buy sudafed in a pharmacy, that, to me, is an important part of this equation. >> nice to have you with us. i didn't notice, last time we did an interview, i hadn't noticed your scar. maybe because we were outside and you had your coat on. >> yeah, i lucked out really. >> you did. >> despite the scars, i'm glad to be here. >> we're glad to have you with us. ouncer the distances aren't getting shorter. ♪ the trucks are going farther. the 2013 ram 1500 with best-in-class fuel economy. engineered to move heaven and earth. guts. glory. ram. the new ram 1500. motor trend's 2013 truck of the year.

good morning. welcome back to "starting point." i'm christine romans minding your business. stocks are down slightly at the opening bell. stocks closed at a five year high on friday. bank of america will pay fannie

mae $3.6 billion to settle complaints over shoddy mortgages, and b of a will buy back 30,000 home loans from fannie that fannie mae says don't meet government standards. car sales, 2012 ises was tht year for car sales before the recession. the housing market expected to show more strength this year. home prices are rising almost across the country. what could hold us back? political uncertainty is number one. three more fiscal cliffs looming. the debt ceiling, massive spending cuts, the sequester, and a continuing budget resolution. also, the jobs recovery remains mediocre. only 155,000 jobs added to the economy. jobless rate is 7.8%. wages and incomes are barely budging, yet the prices of all kinds of things will be higher this year, notably grains, meat -- you can expect to pay 3% to 4% more for your cheeseburgers. mail, there will be a postal price up again. resident prices going up. and public transit. a lot of cities weighing higher costs to get to work.

>> thanks again for the bummer of the news. brought to you by christine romans. >> home prices are rising. >> thank you, christine. it's always a joy to have you on the show. >> happy monday, soledad. >> still ahead on "starting point," president obama could face another battle in congress. tell you why some members of this new congress are already putting up a fight. next, politics to the max with former congress members connie and mary bono mack.

we've got john berman with a look at the day's top stories. >> more on the rape case in the small town of steubenville, ohio. this caught the attention of the entire country. attorneys for two teenagers charged with raping a young girl in august want their client's february trial postponed and moved to a new venue. defense attorney adam nieman

sees no other way to move forward. >> giving its publicity and what we perceive as threats to individuals, perhaps witnesses and also defendants and even defense counsel, we're concerned about safety issues at this point. >> 16-year-old defendants trent mays and malik richmond are charged with raping the girl during a night of partying. missing skydiver kurt rupert disappeared last thursday after jumping out of a helicopter. a rescue team is scouring the cascade mountains for rupert. authorities believe the missing man jumped from 6,500 seat while wearing a special wing suit, which allows a skydiver to soar and glide before deploying a parachute. bashar al assad making it clear he's not about to step down. made his first public speech in six months this week epd, dismissing any chance of peace talks with rebel forces, dismissing them as murderous

criminals. rand paul's son facing charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct after being arrested at north carolina airport. william hilton paul arrested at charlotte douglas airport after flying in from kentucky. senator paul's office issued a statement, asking his family's privacy be respected in a story like this. prison guards in brazil spotted this cat as it was trying to enter the prison on new year's eve. they say the cat had an amazing amount of contraband taped to it. check it out. saws, concrete drills, a head set, a memory card, a cell phone, batteries, and a mobile phone charger. it's like in prison, you figure he'd have a carton of cigarettes too. >> it's like a mobile store. >> it's like morgan freeman in shawshank sneaking into the prison here. it's hard to know who's responsible for the action since the cat did not talk. all 250 inmates are considered suspects. >> oh, my goodness.

that's a little shop. that's crazy. the cat to think of the charger. >> and the electric saw as well. time to talk politics to the macks. today 1:00 p.m. eastern the president is expected to announce his chief counterterror adviser john brennan as a nominee for the cia director, and former senator chuck hagel as secretary of defense. we brought the macks together for this. mary bono mack, former congressman from california. her husband john mack is a former republican representative from florida. is it a huge relief to have your lives back? >> it's a relief. it is. it was an honor to serve, no doubt about it. but there's definitely been a weight of the world lifted off -- at least my shoulders. i don't know if he's realized he's not a member yet. i know it feels like it's a wonderful relief. i'm ready for a new chapter. it's very exciting. >> it is exciting. i would say that things just get

better and better. there's a lot of responsibility. it is an honor to serve in the congress and to represent the district that i represented, but we're looking forward to the future and to the next chapters in our lives. >> to be monday morning quarterbacks. >> people don't like congress people very much. i think it would be a great thing to be like ssayonara, moving on. >> i watched the swearing in thinking, who are those people? i thought i would be bittersweet and sad. it's already like who are all of those people? what are they doing? >> let's talk about chuck hagel, shall we? let's say you were in congress. would you support him? what do you think of chuck hagel? >> i said it earlier in the break, if he's upset the left and the right, perhaps he's doing something right. for me, i think the confirmation process is going to be very important. i think that his stance on iran and israel needs to be flushed out. to me, even as a moderate republican, he's still perhaps a little bit too much of an appeaser and doesn't make us stronger or weaker. i this i it's going to be a very

spirited confirmation process. i think it's going to be great theater. there's no doubt about that. but in the end, i think he's going to get it. >> explain to me why mitch mcconnell, who not long ago was saying hagel is one of the premier foreign policy voices and one of the giants in the united states senate. he stands with him philosophically 90% of the time. he's an indispensable member of the republican team. that was then. now he says, he'll be given a fair hearing, and you have john mccain saying, to allege that hagel is somehow a republican, that's a hard one to swallow. >> i think -- >> what's at work here? >> i think senator hagel was more of a libertarian, if you look at some of his votes. he came from a libertarian side. sometimes that upsets more of the mainstream republicans. i consider myself to have a libertarian streak as well, but i think what mary said is right. he's going to have to answer to some of these issues. they're going to come from both the left and the right.

look, this is a process that is important. he will have his day in the hearings. there will be a vote. my guess is at the end of the day that president obama will get his nominee. >> i was going to ask if you think the issues are big. ouch. i hit my hand. let's put iran on the side for a moment. you have the other two trofrg ones you said back 14 years ago, 15 years ago, he called a diplomat aggressively gay. he has apologized recently for that. and then he talked about the jewish lobby, not the israel lobby, and there are people who take great exception to that. and then, of course, you have iran, where i think the idea of sanctions, he has not necessarily been supportive of that. the president has put a lot of eggs in that basket. are these enough? >> i would say these are the ones that we know before his nomination was --

>> good point,touche. >> my guess is this is part of the process. it's as ugly as it can be. this is part of the process in the senate where the president makes a nomination. and we're going to have to watch it unfold, and it's just going to be an interesting hearing. >> here's the problem. he makes many of those comments before mcconnell praises him, before the 2006 new york times magazine article where john mccain praises him and says he would be perfect in his administration, in any capacity. what has changed -- they knew that then, when they were praising him, and now -- >> is it just political? >> okay, but mccain in 2008. >> let me say this. if it was a republican president making his nomination, the senator, the freshman senator that you just had on a few

minutes ago would have been all over him, right? so to suggest that this is -- >> we don't know what he would have done. we know exactly what mccain and mcconnell actually said. we don't know what that new senator would have done because he didn't do it. mcconnell actually said this. >> but you're saying that it all depends on who the president is and his political feeling. >> the it the president's nomination. look, people might not like the political theater. this has been going on forever. >> that's why people don't like congress, though. >> the difference is now it's on our tvs all the time. and i think -- >> 24-hour cable. >> it's your fault. >> no, it's not your fault, but he can't help but watch because we're interested. >> there have been nominees that have gone down well before we got into this world of twitter and facebook and other things. the advising consent of the senate is something that's been on our imagination for generations. >> the it not something they come out and hold press conferences. >> let's remember we're talking about israel and iran, and those are important issues. one of the things that turned

republicans against hagel was his opposition to the iraq war, when he really alienated a lot of people back then, during that battle. and i don't know if president obama would have appointed him. >> here's what he said. many of the predictions chuck hagel made about the war came true. they have proven to be accurate. that is mcconnell talking about hagel. so i don't think it's necessarily that. >> i think the republican party doesn't want to own the iraq war anymore. but there was a lot of bad blood between republicans and him. >> aren't they mad that he supported obama? >> but there's something else that's really important. when you think about being a member of the house or the senate, that you are as defineddefined by how you interrogate or question somebody. this is your opportunity to state what you believe in. obviously, sometimes that is taking that person on, and that's what's happened. they're carving out their niche by saying everything that he does wrong because it's their opportunity to highlight what they believe in. going back to what else is different zbl--

>> do you think that congress is partisan and dramatic and made for tv? >> they didn't win in 2008. i'm talking specifically about mr. mccain. >> i don't think that's right. >> it's not out of character for him. >> i think that is exactly right. >> senator mccain has been one of the most -- he is someone who has bucked the republican party. he has been through a lot in his life. and to say he's thin skinned about an election, i think, is a little over the top. >> so what changed between 2006 and after 2006 other than the fact that hagel whacks him in the 2008 election over mccain's political stance on foreign poli policy, and hagel does not support the surge, which mccain throws a lot of his eggs into that basket. what changes from his kind of blanket support in hagel in 2006 in the senate. he would support him in any

capacity if he were to be elected in 2008, any capacity. >> now he's about to be nominated. >> there's a difference between paying lip service and actually nominating someone. would john mccain have actually nominated him? >> he doesn't have to nominate him now. he has to figure out which side he stands on. >> there's an important point in history right now where we have to make sure we are very serious with iran. if anybody is out there weakening our position with them, it is incredibly dangerous, and i think it's legitimate for senator mccain or anybody to say, wait a minute. he's an appeaser. does that advance our cause, or does it weaken our cause? so regardless of a blanket -- >> what does serious mean? does serious mean war, or does serious mean we have to take that situation seriously and figure out how we deal with it? >> if i may interrupt, sir, because i can cede the time back to me, if you will. >> thank you, soled da. >> i feel strong. >> i feel that you feel strongly. we'll have to wait and see.

they haven't even named the guy yet. give it a moment, will you? thank you. we appreciate it. politics to the macks, which, by the way, i love that title so much. >> it's a show. >> it's a little mini show right here. someone is going to steal that from me, aren't they? ahead this morning on "starting point," a movie without big name stars and a small budget slayed the competition at the box office. and what's the secret behind the "texas chainsaw massacre 3d," version 96.5. we're watching "starting point." ? i'm not juice or fancy water. i've got nine grams of protein. that's three times more than me! [ female announcer ] ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. ♪ ♪ ♪

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welcome back, everyone. stories we're following. firefighters down under fighting two brush fires in southeastern tasmania. they've burned through 110 square miles off new zealand's southern coast. more than 100 homes destroyed, but so far no deaths reported. carnival arrived in florida. the funny fellows lauded its arrival on a streetcar going up and down st. charles avenue. mardi gras day is on february 12th. and harry reid may not want

to compare natural disasters. the senate majority leader is not making any fans in new orleans after complaining about the house's failure to pass an aid relief bill for the victims of superstorm sandy. this is what he said. >> we are now past two months with people of new york, and the people of new orleans and that area, they were hurt, but nothing in comparison to what's happened to the people in new england. >> because reid's comments were factually incorrect. katrina killed over 1,800 people and caused $145 billion in damage. sandy has been blamed for 20 deaths and $80 billion in damage. >> it's just bad form to compare disasters -- if you've lost your home, it's devastating for you. right? a tragedy is a tragedy, and comparing disasters -- >> he's trying to make his case and obviously got carried away with the hyperbole. >> he won't be invited to mardi

gras any time soon. >> i live in new york, i'm from new orleans. they're both bad. let it go. >> still ahead on "starting point," the country reeling from the newtown massacre, but an extremely violent movie number one at the box office this weekend. how did the "texas chainsaw massacre" in 3d do so well? i'm guessing none of you saw it. and i'm thinking, "shouldn't you have more energy than me? you're, like, eight!" [ male announcer ] for every 2 pounds you lose through diet and exercise alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. simple. effective. advantage: mom. let's fight fat with alli. learn more, lose more at letsfightfat.com. nothing.

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this is the time of year when the big movies, big stars battle out for box office profits and nominations. what was the number one movie this past weekend? low budget nearly starless horror movie. the "texas chainsaw massacre in 3d" slashed its way to the box office. $21 million it took in. beat out "django unchained," which i haven't seen yet. also beat out the "the hobbit" and les mis. great to see you. happy holidays. why? >> this is counterprogramming. you have all these heavy oscar movies you've really got to get around to seeing, like les mis

and lincoln, which are three hours long. or you can see half naked girls running around and people throwing chainsaws through the air. did i mention leather face and it's all in 3d? >> this is like number 20. aren't people sick of it? >> there's been a prequel, a sequel, a reboot, another sequel that had nothing to do with the other sequel. audiences didn't care. people wanted to see trey songz, the rapper. a the lot of people said that was the main draw. >> this is his first movie. >> is he killed in it? >> you'll have to wait and see. >> i love trey songz. >> trey was a big part of it. half the audience was women. one-third of the audience was under 25. girls go with guys on dates. it's an ironic date night. >> i don't think my wife would be into me taking her there. >> it's a young person's thing. >> forget it. i was surprised to see that, when you look at the top four

movies, 3 out of 4 are very horrifically violent, and this is all in the wake of the sandy hook massacre. >> this is a different kind of violence. the jack reacher movie, tom cruise movie, did poorly, and it opened with sniper fire. a lot of people found that wrong. this is the wrong moment for that. but the violence in texas chainsaw is cartoonish. people throwing chainsaws 60 feet across the room. >> does it kill somebody when you hit them with the chainsaw? completely serious. i've never seen the movies. >> you've got to go. there's different ways of hurting people with chainsaws. >> there's so many great movies out there right now. les mis, i think it's very extraordinary they took great risk in doing that. >> even that's kind of violent. >> don't you think people saw great movies over the holidays and wanted something to relax? >> relax and see a chainsaw thing coming at you in 3d. >> don't you think 3d makes a difference?

>> and also hikes up ticket price. >> what does a ticket cost? >> soledad only goes to premieres. she doesn't know about tickets. >> i don't go at all. >> $13 or $14. >> really? >> instead of $11 or $12. it adds a lot to the bottom line. but les mis and "lincoln," these are great movies to see, but sometimes you want something lighter. you know it's going to be a popcorn movie, get a lot of laughs out of it. clearly, you're not going to be going to see it this week. >> i'm one of those people, movies stick with me forever. i would not be able to sleep. even if they're laughing when the chainsaws are flying. >> i think "scream" was the scariest movie i've seen. >> there was a lot of humor in "scream." there was a lot of fun. the horror in horror movies, the violence, is very close to comedy. you kind of get a lot of laughs out of it and scares whereas something like "jack reacher," which has sniper fire.

it's a little bit too close to home. >> is it too early to talk about oscars? thursday they're going to do the nominations. >> the nominations are thursday morning. this is the awards season basically at its peak. you have the oscar nominations thursday. the golden globes this sunday. this is when everyone's talking about les mis and saying -- in fact, your husband just told me in the green room his parents just went to see les mis. everyone is talking about these movies. thursday morning you're going to see "les mis" and "lincoln" really clean up. a lot of oscar nominations. anne hathaway is a lock to win best supporting actress. she was incredible in that role. "lincoln," you have steven spielberg and daniel kushner and daniel day lewis, who's won the oscar twice before and looks like he's going to win again. >> but everyone is seeing "texas chainsaw massacre." hang on. which movie is trey songz in? that's what i want to see this weekend. >> it got very quiet when i was

talking about the other oscar movies. >> i have a picture of me and trey songz, and i'm going to dig that out and retweet it. >> i really like the "lincoln" movie. >> president obama tweeted it. >> and you haven't mentioned "django." >> it's definitely a yes, and you'll probably see that also get a lot of nominations this week. there's just nothing -- there's no one particular win. there's no actor who's necessarily going to win for "django." you might see nominations. we'll see. >> samuel l. jackson, most creative use of language. >> i have to do a big plug for the palm springs international film festival. it's happening right now. this past saturday, two nights ago was their big gala. and rivera and all the stores were there. sally field was there. >> sally field gave a great speech, i heard, funny and poignant. it's much better than that you really like me thing. >> let that go.

>> wonderful. she's such an icon. >> people like you with those unforgiving memories. bradley, it's nice to have you with us. we appreciate it. we'll talk to you thursday when the 0s car nominations come out. [ woman ] if you have the audacity to believe

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join us. [ male announcer ] at edward jones, it's how we make sense of investing. welcome back, everybody. you're looking ats new pictures. this is secretary of state hillary clinton. she's leaving her home in washington, d.c., heading back to work for the first time since she suffera